Jaune Constantine
by Khosrau
Summary: As the new year rolls around for first years, Beacon Academy will be faced with the ultimate wildcard in the face of a stagnant battle about to be reignited, The Hellblazer. Rated M to be faithful to the source material
1. The Devil Wears a Trenchcoat

The blazing afternoon sky eclipsed over Beacon Academy as the campus lays barren. The silence filling the hallways and campus as it anticipates Initiation weekend. The Headmaster of Beacon, Ozpin, was sitting on a lone bench near the docks, admiring the view of Vale and the hustle and bustle of its occupants. In his hand rests a fresh cup of coffee, the first one of the moment. The smell was intoxicating as he anticipated the first sip of the day. Nothing could ruin the moment. His arm raised the cup and tipped the lid towards his pursed lips.

"We have a problem." The deadpan voice of Glynda Goodwitch startled Ozpin, forcing his mind out of the serenity he was previously in.

Ozpin cocked his head to face her. A remarkably fine woman who was able to handle any amount of work given to her without any complaint, if you don't count backhanded comments. His pursed lips transformed into a bitter frown. He couldn't even have a single sip of coffee without an issue popping up.

"Of what severity? It could wait until after initiation." He replied, using his free hand to motion a carefree attitude. Glynda's cold demeanor hadn't changed from her original statement.

"That's the problem. One of the chosen initiates has unfortunately notified us to his reasoning for why he couldn't attend the academy." Her answer coincided with her multitasking on her scroll.

On her scroll, she pulled up a photo of a brawny young man with dark orange hair and sun kissed skin. Her scroll passed from her own hands into Ozpin's free hand. He gave the photo a good look over as he recalled the boy. Clay Meadows, a boy of honorable upbringing, humble personality, and gifted skillset. It's a shame that he came to deny his acceptance.

"Any reason he stated on why he is unable to attend?" Ozpin asked, handing back the scroll and finally taking his first sip of coffee for the day.

"He was killed in grimm invasion of his home village several days ago." Glynda coldy stated, causing Ozpin to choke on his coffee, "I've already had condolences sent on behalf of Beacon to his family and the village. The number of people killed in the attack was last stated to be thirty-two as of several hours ago."

Ozpin cleared his throat,his mind racing with thoughts of the news. This was a problem. An incomplete initiation schedule throws the entire school attendance system out of the loop for at least 3 weeks. Finding a replacement student would be the easiest solution. He was not going to deal with that recalibration process ever again.

"Are the applications still in my office?" His request was met with a stern nod from Glynda.

"I had them placed on your desk after I received the news."

Ozpin smirked, standing up with a sigh as he stretched his legs. So much for a free day at Beacon Academy. He turned and motioned for Glynda to follow him as he picked up his cane from the end of the bench and sluggishly strutted towards his office in the clocktower.

"Well, we have five days until Beacon opens for the new school year. If we pick the first promising face in the pile, we'll be done in several hours. This should leave us enough to get Dr. Oobleck to rework the attendance file on the system and to have the golden boy" He paused for a moment, "or girl, time to pack and arrive to Beacon on time." His monologue was brought upon Glynda's shoulders as she was occupationally tied to Ozpin's schemes.

The walk lasted several minutes as they soaked in the rare view of an empty and silent Beacon academy. A school that was so often bustling with sound of students was dead quiet, the clack of Ozpin's cane filling the air as they walked.

At the base of the clocktower, a small lobby filled the interior with an ornate elevator being the centerpiece of the room. Ozpin and Glynda stepped inside, a pregnant pause filled the awkward elevator ride until Glynda decided to speak up.

"So, how long do you believe it will take?" She asked, adjusting her glasses.

Ozpin adopted an indecisive sneer, teetering his hand from left to right. He honestly didn't have a definitive answer himself. It's not like the perfect candidate would just pop up out of nowhere. While convenient, it would just be absurd. Ozpin's thoughts were cut off with a bitter smell filling the elevator as it reached his office. Where was this smell coming from?

The elevator doors open, revealing the office of Ozpin filled with a layer of smoke. The source, revealing itself to be a lit cigarette on the hand of an outstretched arm from Ozpin's chair, facing toward the window. Glynda adopted a hostile glare and prepared her crop as Ozpin maintained a professional appearance, merely raising an eyebrow to the figure.

"Quite a view, but the clock motif is a bit exaggerated though." The voice seemed to hide a faint accent that Ozpin couldn't quite place.

Glynda stepped forward, nonverbally announcing her presence to the mysterious intruder.

"Excuse me, sir. Beacon Academy is currently on summer vacation and is unable to have any visitors during this time." Her poorly hidden threat behind her statement reeked of venom.

Oh, I'm not a visitor." He said, spinning the chair and revealing his identity, "I'm here to be your golden boy".

The intruder was a young man of 17. His hair was a short blonde and eyes a piercing blue. His appearance bore the semblance of a sketchy car salesman: a plain white button up shirt with a black tie, grey khakis, and a grungy, well used, tan trench coat. His toothy grin gave off a creepy vibe, as if intentionally. He took a drag of the cigarette, blowing the smoke out into the office air, looking back at Ozpin and Glynda.

"Mind if I smoke?" He cynically asked, crushing the remnants of the fag into a bowl filled of recently used cigarette butts and caramel hard candys. He pulled out his pack and began to fiddle with it to pull out another stick.

"Yes." Glynda affirmed, using her semblance to pull the pack from his hands, floating them to the trash can at a moderate velocity.

Ozpin kept his mouth shut, analyzing the young man. His staring was noticed by the young intruder. He promptly stood up from the chair, dusted the ash off his trenchcoat, and bent over the desk, outstretching his hand.

"Where are my manners? My name's Jaune Constantine. I'm here for the opening in the initiation."

The statement sent chills down the spines of Ozpin and Glynda. How could he possibly know about the opening? The issue only arose minutes beforehand. Ozpin dashed the suspicion, exiting the elevator and approached his own desk, fulfilling Jaune's handshake. The grip on Jaune was fierce, but consistent. He knew exactly what he was doing. Ozpin smirked at the realization, taking one of the small chairs in front of his desk, usually meant for students that had gotten into trouble.

"Well, Mr. Constantine. You seem to have come in an opportune time. May I ask for your credentials and application?" Ozpin stated, waving off Glynda to have her back off.

Glynda furrowed her brow as she lowered her crop, backing up to the front of the elevator, glaring at Jaune like a hawk. Jaune gave Ozpin a chuckle, stifling it with a cover of his hand.

"Oh, I don't have any of that. I've never went to combat school, but you'll still accept my application.

Ozpin was taken aback by the sheer audacity of the boy's words, even hearing a faint gasp from Glynda from the elevator. He breaks into school property, violates the no-smoking rule, ruins his candy bowl, and even demands his acceptance without doubt of rejection. What was with this wild child?

"Well, if you are not well versed in combat, I legally cannot accept you. It would be dangerous not only to yourself, but to the people around you." His words did not drop Jaune's prowling smile. Ozpin fell right into his trap.

Jaune took a long, hard look at Glynda, before turning back to Ozpin. He raised his hand and motioned Ozpin to lean closer. Ozpin obliged, humoring the boy. He leaned closer and Jaune extending his head to Ozpin's ear. Moments passed before they both parted. Ozpin's eyes were like plates, as wide as they could be.

"If you're going to accept demands, I want immunity from the no smoking policy. I dunno, make up some shit about me medically needing it." Jaune said, relaxing back into Ozpin's cushy chair.

Ozpin lost his composure as he hastily grabbed a notepad off his desk and began to scribble Jaune's requests. Ozpin quickly attempted to regain his professional image and stood up, showing Jaune to the elevator, which Jaune obliged. Glynda stood beside the elevator, slack jawed as a rude, impudent ass like that would be accepted into the academy.

Ozpin waved goodbye to the guest as the elevator doors shut, leaving Jaune with a large shit eating grin as he silently celebrated his success. Ozpin's body language instantly changed, his frame wobbling towards his desk and digging into his drawers. Moments later, a bottle of brown liquor appeared on his desk. He didn't even bother with a shot glass, just opening and downing as much as he could on a single swig. The liquid burned his throat, but it didn't matter. He was absolutely fucked.

Glynda approached Ozpin, her face, for once, visibly worried about her boss. The clicks of her heels acted like a metronome as she got closer and closer.

"He knows, Glynda." He stated, in between swigs.

Glynda stopped getting closer, leaning closer. Her reluctance being overpowered by her concern.

"Knows what?" She asked, seeing Ozpin put the bottle down. He turns to her, wiping the drips of liquor off his chin with his sleeve.

"He knows that Magic is real."

/

"You should have seen the look on his face! The moment I mentions magic, he practically shat his pants!" Jaune said, downing the last of his shot glass.

The laughter of Nick echoed through his parlor as he began to wheeze, refilling Jaune's shot glass. The parlor was dark, the only light emitting through the open windows. Outside, the wooden sign of "Nick's Knacks" hanging at the front of the building. The closed store front being cluttered with antiques, furniture, and junk.

"Oh, Jaune. What I would give to see that reaction in person. To have someone like that eating from the palm of your hand." his laughter died down, wiping a tear away, "So, what's the plan now?"

Jaune played with his glass, staring at the liquid as the pondered. Honestly, he had no fucking clue. He just wanted to see Ozpin's reaction.

"I dunno. I'll just let things flow naturally and let whatever usually happens come to me at Beacon." Jaune lamented, sipping from the glass.

"Well, well, well. I'll just tell you this, Beacon was some of the most eventful and best years of my life. You won't regret this." Nick reassures, placing a messaging hand on Jaune's shoulder.

Nick had been a huntsman for 30 years before losing his leg and partner in combat. Now, all he does is run a failing antiques shop that somehow, despite almost never having a profit, hasn't shut down yet. Nick's door has been open to Jaune for the last 5 years, being the closest thing Jaune's had to a best friend. The next few days were a blur as Jaune woke up for Initiation day.

/

The Airship station was cramped and cluttered, an innumerable amount of kids Jaune's age just waiting for the airship for Beacon to arrive. Jaune had gotten up several hours earlier, buying several packs of cigarettes as Jaune patiently waited, his habit giving himself his own personal space from everyone else. In the end, the ship arrived as Jaune was one of the first people to step foot into the carrier.

By the end lane of seats, Jaune spotted a nice trio of open seats. It was a match written by Oum's mighty pen. In the oncoming moments, Jaune placed his back against the end of the airship, and extended his legs across the seats. Jaune settles himself in the seats and closes his eyes, awaiting a peaceful nap to Beacon.

"E-Excuse me, sir? Are those two seats available?" a faint feminine voice interrupted Jaune's nap.

Opening his eyes, Jaune was met with a pair of two girls. A short girl with black hair and red hi-lights and a busty blonde girl next to her.


	2. Original Sins

Silver Eyes.

Holy shit, silver fucking eyes.

He quickly snapped out of his stupor, shaking his head mildly. In front of him, were two attractive young women who wanted to sit with him. Never let anyone else tell you that Jaune wasn't an opportunist.

"Sure!" he said, cracking a smile in hopes to charm. He positioned his legs off the seats and into a standard seated position, presenting the seat to the ladies, "I'm Jaune, by the way. Jaune Constantine."

The ladies quickly took their seats. The smaller, silver eyed girl stretched out her arm with a smile, a genuine one. That was better than Jaune could do.

"I'm Ruby!" she says as Jaune reluctantly accepted the shake, shaking it furiously, much to his discomfort. She stopped for a moment, gesturing to the bustier, blonde bombshell beside her, "And this is my sister, Yang."

Luckily, Yang hadn't felt up to physical pleasantries like Ruby, just giving a quick "Yo!" with a wave. They were sisters? Could've fooled him, however it didn't really change things, so Jaune decided to drop it. He had originally planned to sleep the trip away, but with a change in plans offered opportunity, especially now he's sitting with a silver eyed person. Best to get on her good side as soon as possible.

"So…. What brings you two to Beacon?" he asked. It was semi rhetorical since they were all on the aircraft for the same reason.

"Oh! We want to be huntresses like our mothers and help make remnant a better place." Ruby replied. Mothers? Plural? Either they were very progressive or had a bad track record.

Yang adjusted her seating, getting a clearer view of Jaune. He reminded her of the guy who sold her her bike: sleazy. She put a hand on Ruby's arm, pulling her towards herself. She needed to ask it first, check him out. She cocked her head, her yellow curls tilting to adjust.

"What about you? Why are you here? You look more like a con artist than a huntsman."

Jaune couldn't help it, but to chuckle mildly. He reached his hand inside his trenchcoat, fiddling around.

"Well, I agree that I have certain skills that made my journey easy, I earned my way in just like you did. The headmaster was short one applicant, I came in, gave him the whole nine yards on my abilities and he offered me a deal." he explained, fishing a cigarette and lighter out of his pocket.

The cigarette found its place in a familiar location, a quick flick from his lighter sending the tip ablaze. The action was responded with some minor glares from the other occupants, Ruby and Yang included. Ruby had her nose pinched with her index and thumb, using her other hand to point at the cigarette.

"You can't smoke those. They're bad for you." she said in a nasally tone, giving a short blech to emphasize her message.

Jaune couldn't help but flash a smile,a genuine one at that, to her childish display. Oh, to be young and pure again. He debated what to do for a moment before the idea claimed his mind.

"Well, I can. Part of my deal as a medical necessity, BUT if it IS that bad for you, I guess I can…" he paused, plucking the cig with his fingers, spinning it around and planted the burning end into his mouth, closing it with a delighted 'Mmm'.

His act had appalled Ruby and Yang, who sat slack jawed at the sight of the young boy eating a lit cigarette.

"EW! EW! Stop it! Take it out!" she whined, planting her palms against her eyes.

"Dude, that's like wicked gross, man."

Jaune looked at them with confusion, plucking the cigarette out of his mouth.

The sight had befuddled Yang, just a moment there was… It didn't matter now, she shook her little sister's shoulder with the suggestion of looking. When she refused, Yang had pulled away one palm, long enough for Ruby to see what had left Yang speechless. The cigarette was gone, the blaze replaced with a glazey red core of hard candy. The cigarette had become a lollipop in its place. Jaune smirked, moving it closer to the sisters for inspection.

"It's nothing, really. Just a little transmutation. That's all." he said, befuddling Ruby.

"Transmu-wha?" she asked, confused by the strange word.

"Magic, my dear. I'm a magician." he said, using his free hand to pull out a card and hand it to the young girl.

Ruby accepted it with fascination, her silver eyes sparkling with wonder as she carefully read over the card.

The card was quite simple, eggshell white in color with black lettering. On the card, a simple graphic of an upside down tophat along with his classic title.

"John Constanteen: Master Magician?" Yang read aloud from behind her sister. she snorted, "Kinda lame, dude. Gotta admit though, that was a cool trick."

"Tine. ConstanTINE. Rhymes with fine." he corrected, as the ship had taken a sudden shift, causing the area to shake mildly.

Looking out a nearby window, Jaune saw they were docking just as a PA announced the process. Looks like his quick chat was able to last a little longer than he thought as the tone played, signifying the allowance to leave as the doors opened, allowing for the huntsmen and huntresses in training to step foot on their new school.

The beauty of the architecture would've stunned Jaune if this was his first time at Beacon. However, on a second visit, it feels oddly pretentious. Then again, it was one of the greatest academies in all of Remnant, so pretentious is a good fit. His thoughts were interrupted by the sight of his sisterly seatmates in the front garden, arguing about something. It wasn't his business, but Jaune loves making things his business.

With resolve, he stepped towards the sisters, offering a wave as he met up with them. Yang perked up, grinning and grabbing Jaune's waving and dragging him toward Ruby.

"Well, sis. There comes time in everyone's life when they must learn to explore on their own." she said, in faux sadness, almost comically, she continued, "And I feel so proud that you made yourself a friend to help you out before you even started your first day."

"Yaaaaang" Ruby bemoaned, annoyed at her sister's display.

"So, anyway, have fun. See you later, Rubes!" she said, zipping away and disappearing into the crowd.

The two had stood, side by side, assessing the current predicament as Jaune took the opportunity to levy the situation.

"Heh, sisters. What can you do?" he said as Ruby pouted. His comedic timing didn't seem to work.

"Can this get any worse?" she said, looking up at Jaune, almost expectantly.

Jaune chuckled. He can't recall how many times he mirrored those thoughts when he was in a bind. He pulled out another cigarette, planting it in his mouth as he began to fish for his lighter, pulling it out.

"Trust me, Ruby. It can always get wo-" his resolution was interrupted by a sharp pain to his calf.

Jaune jumped slightly in pain as he quickly turned around, dropping his lighter and knocking over a large amount of luggage. The luggage appeared to be pristinely white with a grey logo that Jaune didn't recognize. Although, that wasn't his biggest priority as he kneeled down to nurse his leg pain. Ruby squatted beside him, looking at him cradle his calf.

"Are you okay?" Ruby asked, but was unfortunately answered by the wrong person.

"He can rot in hell for all I care! He knocked down extremely volatile and fragile dust shards! We're lucky we didn't blow sky high!"

An unfamiliar voice revealed itself as a petite woman of a snow white color scheme. White hair, white dress, and pale blue eyes with a contrasting scar across her left eye. Damn, did she strike a nerve or something? Luggage shouldn't hurt this badly. His own thoughts were drowned out as the white woman pulled out a vial of something, he wasn't paying attention, really. He fished his lighter off the ground.

Ruby was currently under the scrutiny of someone she didn't know for Jaune's mistake. He was kneeled on the ground, striking his lighter despite no flame was a relatively meek person when it came to social interaction and you can minimize it ten fold when the other person was shouting at her. However, the dust in the vial had leaked, acting like pepper as it played in the air around her nose.

Ah

Ah

Acho-

Ruby clamped her mouth and nose, turning away as she sneezed. That was close. She would've hated to cause more trouble.

"Oh, the dust was knocked out. Here we go" Jaune said, adjusting his lighter and giving it a flick.

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Jaune hadn't recalled what caused the explosion, but he had a fair guess to what had happened. All he can remember is that him, Ruby, and white lady are on the ground, caked in soot. Shit, white lady wasn't gonna be happy. In times of dealing with angry people, Jaune had a strategy that never failed and he was lucky enough to always carry it in his coat just in case. Fishing in his coat, he moved faster and more erratic as White Lady and Ruby had begun to get up.

Weiss Schnee had hoped Beacon would prove to be a better life than her home, however the incompetence of two and a lighter had just made this a bad first impression for her new life. As she looked around, spotting the coated figure of the dolt who flicks a lighter in front of Fire Dust. The clopping of her heels grew louder and louder as she got closer and closer to the figure, a greasy looking blonde boy who dresses like a bum. She finally reached him and grabbed his shoulder, pulling him to face her and her fury.

The last thing Weiss was expecting when she pulled him to face her was a pair of thick black glasses with a white cane.

"Ruby? Is that you? Where am I? You know it's not nice to pick on the blind!" Jaune said aloud, lazily glancing around in faux blindness.

Now, Weiss could be named things that were considered problematic, but even she had enough class to not pick on the impaired.

"I-I" she stuttered, "I'm sorry, sir. I think your lighter triggered a dust explosion." Weiss calmly explained to the blind boy.

"Oh, my word. Is anyone hurt? Is Ruby hurt? She's the girl I was with. Can you return me to her?" Jaune pleaded.

With a gentle nod, Weiss led Jaune to Ruby, apologizing before leaving on her own accord with her remaining untouched luggage. Ruby, shocked, waved her hand in front of Jaune's eyes.

"Are you really blind? I thought you could see."

"I can, I just didn't wanna deal with her bitching after being blown the fuck up." Jaune answered, taking off his glasses and folding up his white cane and putting it back in his coat.

Ruby pouted at the ruse. She hated liars, especially liars who pretend to be weak, but he did have a point. Trying to find a new topic, she pulled out a large red and black object, showing it towards Jaune.

"So, I have this. It's Crescent Rose, she's my weapon." She said, showing off the mechanical beast.

"Neat."

Neat. Just Neat. That's all he had to say? Is he not impressed? What even was his weapon?

"If you don't mind me asking, what is your weapon?"

Jaune shrugged his shoulders with uninterest.

"Don't have one, well, not on me anyway. My guy, Nick, is coming tomorrow and he'll drop it off. I left it back at his store. Even then, it's nothing special. Just a sword and shield, bare minimum and there's nothing wrong with the classics"

"There certainly isn't" Ruby agreed, trying to keep the conversation going.

Their talking was interrupted by a PA alerting students to head over to the auditorium to have their Introductory speech.

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"I'm telling you, Yang. Jaune and I exploded! It was so embarrassing and he faked being blind so he wouldn't get in trouble."

"Jeez, Rubes, I know the first day can be tough and stressful, but that's no reason to yell at friends."

Yang and Ruby stood by each other, idly talking as Ozpin had been giving his speech for the past 10 minutes. At that point, they turned to each other and talked about their experiences before the speech. However their conversation was interrupted by Weiss, slowly walking over to talk.

"Hello, I'm Weiss Schnee. I'm sorry if we got out on the wrong foot for first impressions, I didn't consider that Beacon allows for the visually impaired. Next time you see him, can you apologize to him on my behalf again? Where is he? Shouldn't he be with you?" Weiss asked, leaving Yang shocked.

"Sweet Oum, you and Jaune really did explode." Yang muttered, only letting Ruby hear.

As for Jaune, Ruby pointed the finger of the familiar young man, standing several meters away, minus the cane and glasses, trying to chat up a woman on his end.

"He's over there if you want to apologise, but I'm gonna warn you: He isn't blind."

Weiss stood in place, a face mixed with shock and disgust as she analyzed Jaune's movement. Ruby was right, she had been played for a fool.

"Thank you for the direction" she said, cooly and elegantly as she began to strut towards Jaune, a familiar clopping of the heel grew louder as she approached.

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"I can't believe Weiss actually slapped Jaune in the face in front of everyone. That takes balls, figuratively." Yang added as she and Ruby had entered the Mess Hall.

The mess hall was the temporary dorms for the new first years, at least for tonight it was. The room was packed with cots and students, dressed in nightwears or not dressed at all, to Yang's delight. The sisters had found a comfortable spot by the wall, neighboring a young woman in black.

"Look, on your first day you made two friends! Granted, one's a sleazy magician and the other is a pompous princess, but they were nice to you." Yang encouraged her sister.

Ruby just pressed her face into the pillow, wanting to forget today ever happened. This only last for a couple of seconds before she shot back up to question her sister.

"You make it sound like making friends is easy. How do you do it then?"

Yang stretched her muscles, looking around before spotting their neighbor. She stepped over Ruby's cot and sat down beside the girl in black.

"Hi, I'm Yang."

"Blake" was all she got back.

Yang saw her strategy was rocky, but knew when to adapt.

"Neat looking book you're reading. What's it about?"

Blake looked at Yang, before putting a bookmark on the page and closing it.

"It's about-"

"YANG! RUBY!"

A shout in front of them drew their attention away from their conversation to see Jaune, shirtless in pajama bottoms with a small duffel bag. However, that wasn't what the three girls were focused on. Jaune's chest, back, and arm sleeves were adorned with tattoos, mostly of small writings littered his chest in circular patterns, almost orbiting the larger unusual symbols and characters on his front and back. Pictures of suns, triangles, large unfamiliar symbols.

"Woah, Jaune! I didn't figure you for an ink man!" Yang praised, looking over his body.

Jaune entertained the ladies with a spin to give them a clear look at his body, it's not something he's ashamed of, but not something he showed off too often.

"It looks religious, you know? With the way the art and the letters line up to represent something."

"Ding, Ding, Ding! Right on the money. My family is like, super religious. Every male in the family has the prayers of the house etched into them, purifying and protecting the body and soul from corruption and possession, but that's all hooey. I just think it looks cool." Jaune explained, slipping on a short sleeve shirt, his arm tattoos still visible.

The night was short as the group began to idly chit chat, becoming more comfortable around Blake as they waited to see what tomorrow's entrance exam would follow.

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A/N: I'm back from the store with the milk and cigarettes! What did I miss?


	3. In The Line of Fire

The sunshine had pierced through the mess hall windows of Beacon Academy, however it was the hustle and bustle of the students that woke Jaune up. The embittered yawn that escaped his lips as he rose seemed to fall on deaf ears as the students continued to mind their own business, ignoring their volume. Jaune slumped forward in the coat, stretching his arms to regain his motor functions. He needed to get ready, Nick was somewhere on campus with his stuff and he needed to prep for the initiation as well.

Jaune rose from his bed, snatching his small duffel bag, putting on his unbuttoned dress shirt as an act of modesty and leaving Ruby and Yang to snore in their respective cots. Blake's was missing, but it didn't matter. They'll meet again. He exited the large cafeteria, walking the halls for his desired location. Damn, he should've grabbed a map. The halls were ornate, like a mansion or a stuffy dinner party with a murder mystery waiting to happen. However, after jostling around for a couple minutes, a small weight had made itself aware of Jaune's senses in his khaki pocket.

A series of numbers. #129: 01-19-88.

Jaune stared at the numbers for a minute, when did he get this? Was it during the speech? He couldn't remember much when a gentle hand had carried so much force to a simple slap. However, his concentration was broken as he realized what it meant. The Lockers! Of course. He didn't really pay attention, he just grabbed a piece of paper off the table that everyone was at. Well, if he was in the neighborhood, he might as well check.

With the thought, he planted his heel, doing a complete 180 turn as he made his way to the lockers. Maybe they had what he needed there. His dress shoes left a domineering sound as he walked, seeing something quite…. Interesting. A redhead bombshell, a real dime of the dozen of the other huntsmen and huntresses walking the hallways, looking for their own lockers. The closer he got to her, the giddy he became aware of her locker number: 133. As he reached his locker, he decided to turn on his trademark Constantine charm.

Jaune began to fiddle with the lock, glancing at the paper and returning to fiddle with it.

"Damn it all, just work. C'mon." he muttered, futilely playing with the mechanism.

Four lockers down, Pyrrha Nikos was humming her own tune while examining her new locker, her mind pulled out of the music when she heard a mutter from her locker neighbor. He seemed to have trouble. She assessed whether helping or not, but relented. He was a high seven from her perspective, the unbuttoned shirt revealing a well taught body riddled with unusual tattoos.

"Excuse me, did you need help?" she asked, gently approaching to see what was wrong.

"Ah, sorry. I was just having trouble with the combination" Jaune replied, gesturing to the paper and the lock.

"Oh! Let me help you with that." she said, taking the initiative and inputting the combination.

A resounding click notified the duo that the locker was unlocked. Jaune clapped his hands together in praise and bowed.

"Thank Goodness! I was wondering if I was going to have to go a whole year without it. I'm Jaune. Nice to meet you." he praised before extending his hand forward to the woman.

She accepted the handshake with a smile, however, oddly silent. A detail not ignored by Jaune. With the break of the shake, Jaune leaned forward.

"Your name?" he asked

Pyrrha backed up, surprised at the question.

"Oh! I'm sorry. I thought you already knew my name." she sheepishly said, apologizing.

"I'm known for being quick witted, but I'm not psychic" he joked, alleviating the awkward situation.

"Well, my name is-" Pyrrha failed to answer as a booming familiar voice came from behind Jaune.

"Pyrrha!" Weiss exclaimed, shoving Jaune into the locker walls.

Damn, doesn't this woman let up? I faked being crippled once and it's like I spat in her food. Jaune mumbled as he reoriented his position by his locker. Weiss had passed Jaune and taken to Pyrrha's side, wearing a face of disgust as she saw Jaune's appearance.

"What are you doing with this conniving fiend?" She asked, venoms basically dripping from her tone like saliva.

"Oh, we're locker neighbors and he was having trouble opening his locker." Pyrrha explained.

"Oh, yeah." Weiss said, sarcastically, "Being blind really makes it difficult, I assume"

Jaune rolled his eyes. Talk about the vindictiveness on her.

"Look, I lied to get out of trouble. I don't see why that's such a problem."

"PROBLEM!?" she asked, raising her voice, "You destroyed 10,000 lien worth of Dust with your two lien lighter and could have seriously injured or killed the three of us!"

*Snrk*

Weiss' tirade against Jaune was interrupted by a single snicker coming from Pyrrha Nikos. The silence was deafening before the dams broke.

"Bwahahahahaha! Weiss! That actually happened? Oh my Goodness! I thought that was just some tall tale you made up!" Pyrrha said, unable to contain her laughter.

"He….he...hehehe" Jaune began to cautiously before losing control, "Hahahahahaha HAHAHA"

The hall became an echo chamber fulfilled by the harmonious laughter of Jaune and Pyrrha. Both figures hitched over in laughter while their audience, an embarrassed Weiss stands between them, red in the face from the embarrassment. Her huffing did little to cease the action. However, after several moments, the laughter died down.

"Have we had enough?" Weiss asked, folding her arms.

"Oh, Jaune. You are quite the character, I might say. I hope to see you soon." Pyrrha praised, wiping a tear from her eye.

"Alright, pleasantries over. Pyrrha, do the thing." Weiss commanded, getting a nod from her acquaintance.

Jaune was still arched over when a spear had come flying, sending him down the hallway and planting itself in the wall. Never minding the potential concussion that he might have now, he lifted his head to spy the two figures he was talking two appear to be significantly smaller and harder to hear.

"Sorry!" a faint voice echoed.

While rubbing his eyes, the spear gently moved, an action Jaune didn't pay attention until his shirt suddenly fell faint as a large gust of wind blew past his cheek. Opening his eyes once more, the spear was gone along with Pyrrha and Weiss. Neat Trick, he compliments internally. Pyrrha. What a nice girl. It'll be good to see how the cogs of fate will turn in his favor regarding her, like usual.

"There you are, you barmy wanker!" the voice of his old friend broke the silence of contemplation.

Jaune turned to see Nick, his old friend. The geezer was dressed in a green dress shirt along with white khakis, the legging on his left, barbarically cut at the thigh, showing off his softwood marionette leg. His greying hair was styled into a bedhead look with an unhealthy amount of texture paste, along with a buzzcutted five o'clock shadow. He was carrying a leather messenger bag, seemingly weighing him down from how jam packed it seemed.

"And good morning to you, you airy fairy skiver." Jaune greeted back, raising his body from the floor.

Jaune buttoned up his shirt, fretting about the spear tip sized hole now in the collar. Could this day get any worse? Scratch that, it was only morning. Better to not jinx yourself. Either way, Jaune tidied his clothes, pulling his trenchcoat from his duffel bag and placing it on his person.

"So, you got my stuff?" Jaune asked.

Nick unequipped the bag from his person, handing it to Jaune. Jaune opened the bag, inspecting the contents. Gauze, antiseptic, multiple dust crystals, a notepad with pencils, and empty glass bottles. It wasn't much, but considering how Nick packed it specifically for the initiation, Jaune wasn't going to complain.

However, something glaring was missing. Something REALLY important was missing.

"Oi, Nick." He stated, getting his attention "Where's my weapon?"

Nick merely looked away, mumbling something under his breath like a child would if caught in a lie. Jaune wasn't having any of it, kicking Nick's wooden leg, causing it to dislodge, sending Nick tumbling to the ground.

"You bloody muppet pikey! You realize that without a weapon, my ass will be served on a silver platter! You trying to get me killed, you nutter!" Jaune shouted.

"Off it, mate! I forgot it and when I realized that, I was already on the bullhead." Nick reasoned, grabbing his leg and wedging it back into place.

"Oh, right on, bud. And you mind telling me there's enough time to go back and get it?" Jaune asks.

A crinkle of muffled audio covered the halls as a short mechanical jingle before an announcement played over the P.A.

"First year initiates, please continue towards Emerald Forest for the initiation to begin."

With a closing jingle, the revelation left the duo in a more compromising position than before. In layman's terms, he was absolutely fucked. Nick stood up, adjusting his position to compensate for his leg as he began to dig in his pocket. He had something that could help, if not slightly. Moments later, Nick pulled out a small blade from his pocket, extending it to Jaune.

"Here. It may not be much, but it's better than nothing and your 'talent'." he added.

Jaune took the blade and lifted it for examination. It was a small blade, shown by how it had fit in Nick's pocket. The hilt was a golden hue, with tiny claws of gold extended outwards. The blade was stainless, it's metal almost self sharpening in its appearance and upkeep. On the blade were several symbols in a line, mimicking circular shapes, ending up with a full circle at the end. Oh, shit. Jaune remembered what this weapon was.

"The Moonblade" he muttered, remembering the blade.

"Yep, I keep it on me whenever I go on errands during the day." Nick added.

The Moonblade was an artifact that Jaune had bought 4-5 months back. The origin was unknown, but the sword had an unusual ability. A weapon-based metamorphosis. During the day, the blade is the size of a dagger, but come nightfall,the blade grows to the length of a longsword. It had cost a pretty penny, but money wasn't a concern for Jaune. He had his ways of quick cash.

Too bad that it's 10:30 in the morning. But, like Nick said: It's better than nothing. Jaune placed the dagger into his bag. He sighed, might as well get this over with.

"Thanks, Nick. I appreciate it, really. I'll see you after the team ceremony." Jaune said, walking away towards his desired location.

"Make sure to snag a hotty like I did!" Nick yelled as the distance grew greater between them.

Jaune could only smile at the advice, offering a thumbs up which was reciprocated by Nick. Now, which was was to Emerald Forest.

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The cliff overlooking the Emerald Forest was well kept, a mass of students occupying it as the headmaster and his assistant stood to instruct them. Jaune had approached the mass, greeting Ruby and Yang as they reunited to listen to the instructions. The instructions were fairly basic, having a set number of students enter the forest at once to play a game of Snatch and Run. He didn't hear all of the instructions as he diverted his attention to organize his contents in his bag.

"Will be joining us for this exam?" Ozpin asked, snapping Jaune out of his bag.

Everyone was on these metal platforms, save for one right next to Ozpin. They began to snicker and laugh as Jaune stood alone. Jaune wiped his nose in embarrassment, stepping on the platform like he was supposedly instructed.

"Does anyone have any questions?" Ozpin asked, somewhat rhetorically as he stood beside Jaune.

Jaune raised his hand, mainly to remind him of the entry method.

"Hey, Ozzie. Remind me, what was the method of entry?"

Ozpin smiled, taking a sip of his coffee. This was going to be fun.

"I believe my words were clear enough. Just make sure you have a landing strategy." He answered, a faux smile on his face as he lowered his hand to the control.

"Have a safe trip, Mr. Arc." he whispered as he pressed the button.

Upon activation, the platform below jaunt whirred for a moment before a sudden force below the platform had launched Jaune into the skies above alongside several other students. However, besides the dense whirring of the wind against his ears was the second loudest sound he was hearing as his screams of terror had damn near made him deaf.

Ozpin stood at the cliff, smugly sipping his coffee, looking at his scroll.

"Favorite part of the job" he chuckled.

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. Fuck. Mr. Arc. How did he know? Did he slip up? Maybe he was hearing things. Whether Ozpin knew a last name was Jaune's last worry at the moment as terminal velocity was about to bodyslam him to an early grave. His body in a free fall, he was about to pierce the trees and hit the ground when a whirring red object had struck Jaune, planting him to the large tree, suspending him 30 feet above the ground.

"He. hehehe. HAHAHA!" Jaune laughed, almost deliriously. Fate saves his ass once again.

However, fate was not always pretty. That and Jaune felt a weird tugging sensation, noticing that it didn't come from his clothes. Jaune looked up to assess where the tug was coming from.

Looking up, the red object that saved him was the same spear that pierced his shirt less than an hour earlier. The issue was with where it was planted. The spear was lodged in the middle of Jaune's right hand, piercing his palm and into the tree. Upon the sight, all the pain that was missing began to shoot into his nervous system at once.

"AAAAAAAAAH!" The birds of the encompassing trees began to fly at the sudden shouting.

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Ozpin and Glynda winced at the injury, almost disgusted at the sight.

"Oof. Almost makes me sorry for him." Ozpin noted, taking another sip from his cup.

"It looks like Ms. Nikos is heading that way, her tracker moved twice as fast at the scream." Glynda noted, looking at her scroll.

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It had hurt enough that he had a spear through the middle of his hand, but gravity decided to play it's game as well. The longer Jaune was there, each bounce added to the spear's blade upward bisection between his middle and ring finger. WIth a final bounce, the spear had completed its job. Jaune fell to the ground, a loud thud accompanying it. Damn, this must be a speedrun to shit falling apart.

"Jaune! Oh My Gosh! What happened!?" the voice of Pyrrha broke through the resounding pain.

Jaune used his divided hand to point to the spear, his hand split in two and gushing blood.

"I found your spear. Thanks for that" Jaune muttered, rolling his body over to get on his knees.

The chaos was a blur, just an onslaught of apologies from Pyrrha as she retrieved her spear. He once again showed the hand to Pyrrha.

"How bad is it?" He asked, not wanting to look at the final product.

"It's….." Pyrrha said, unable to finish her sentence.

Fuck, this was really bad. If it takes you longer than three seconds to find a proper adjective, it must be really fucked. Looking at it reminded him of a reindeer in some aspects, his arm being the neck and the split hand acting as antlers.

"We need to head back to Beacon. This is serious!" Pyrrha said, fretting over Jaune's health.

"It's fine" Jaune lied, "I'll just patch this up and we can finish the test. Like he said: Snatch and Run"

Using his left hand, he pulled out the antiseptic, gauze, and a single fire dust crystal. He handed the gauze to Pyrrha as he opened the antiseptic, pouring the liquid on his hand. It stung like a bitch, but it's better than an infection. After letting the antiseptic rest and using his shirt to wipe off any left over liquid. Using the crystal, Jaune placed it on the ground, using a nearby stone to smash it to a fine powder.

"Hold my hand together." he commanded.

The simple command was met with a reluctant Pyrrha gently grabbing the left and right side of Jaune's hand and pressed them together. Jaune began to coat his hand with the crystal powder, pulling out a lighter.

"No matter what happens, keep them together." he said, flicking his lighter on.

With a gentle and slow approach, Jaune pressed the lighter to the powder, igniting it along the line where the hand split. Jaune dropped the lighter and began to bite into his left hand as the burning pain began to grow into a fluctuating numbness as the flames died out.

"Here." Pyrrha said, taking control.

She gently applied the gauze to the now burnt, but cauterized hand. In the end, the hand looked fine, if not looking like a mummy. Jaune played with his fingers, mildy stretching them in exercise. Jaune looked at them, then to Pyrrha.

"Thanks." He praised.

"You're welcome. Partner." Pyrrha said, squatting down to get closer.

Jaune cocked his head in amusement towards her.

"Partners? Says who? Not that I object, but you didn't make the best first impression on the battlefield." he joked.

Pyrrha laughed, if not somberly. His hand was hurt because of her. However, an alternative thought came to her. Jaune had a cigarette planted in his mouth, but was halted from lighting as Pyrrha looked back at him.

"Why didn't your Aura stop it?" She asked, confused.

"Oh, I ain't got it. That's all." Jaune replied, lighting his cigarette.

Oh.

.

.

.

.

Wait

"You're at Beacon and your Aura is still locked!?" She shouted in shock.

Jaune applied his hand to his ear to save it from the shouting.

"It's not locked. I just don't have any." He answered.

"But, everyone has aura, locked or not."

"You'll learn soon enough that I'm a special case, in more ways than one."

Jaune stood up, contorting his neck to pop a crick in it. He offered his uninjured hand to Pyrrha, almost angelically in a way.

"Now." He stated, "Lets get whatever that old geezer wanted." Jaune said.

It may have been the tone, but Jaune's resolve had caused a smile to encompass Pyrrha's lips. She grabbed his hands as he hoisted her up. Together, they began to walk deeper into the forest for the test to begin.

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A/N: Two chapters in one year? I'm too kind aren't I?


End file.
